Horseland Christmas
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: Horseland hasn't decorated for Christmas in a while and hasn't really celebrated it because they don't feel like it. Can Sarah change this?


_Disclaimer – I do not own Horseland._

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Horseland Christmas

It was early in December and snow was already falling at Horseland. Everything was blanketed in a coat of white and Angora took to majorly not wanting to step out of the house lest she get her dainty little feet wet and cold, a must not for her delicate immune system, or so Angora told Shep and Teeny.

The only thing missing was the festive decorations that most places adorned their fences with for the Holiday season. The snow was all that adorned the exterior and nothing adorned the inside walls… there were no Christmas trees, no wreath, no gingerbread houses.

Sarah had been going to Horseland since that summer and had been wondering how Bailey's folks would end up decorating the place for the holidays. She was quite surprised to though to see nothing, as she typically found the place to be constantly filled with the cheer that she loved Christmas for… at least one of the reasons.

So when she got out of the limo and took time to scratch old Mosey behind the ears; the old cat was starting to get on in the years and she would need to say goodbye to him soon, though she didn't realize it. She was more occupied with the lack of adornments around the place.

The first two people she saw in the stables other then the horses were Alma and Molly, who were giving their horses carrots. Sarah commented off handedly "I figured that there would be decorations up and about."

"Decorations… you mean…" Alma's dark skin suddenly paled and she made large panicked cutting motions, trying to indicate it wasn't a good subject to go into. "Let's not talk about that…"

"I don't know… my family celebrates Kwanza," Molly commented.

"They just don't celebrate Christmas," Alma commented. "Can we please not comment and talk about it?"

"Yeah… if they decorated the place with Christmas stuff, like Mistletoe... I would have had my first kiss," Chloe sighed.

"Nuh uh… I would have," Zoe imputed in, causing Sarah, Molly and Alma to roll their eyes at the obsession of the two girls with their major crush on Bailey.

"I've never gotten why they've never celebrated Christmas," Chloe choose to ignore her younger sister's comment.

"It's not something I'm comfortable talking about," Alma sighed. "Can we please change the subject?"

"So… you know why Bailey and Will don't celebrate Christmas?" Molly commented.

"And it's not her place to say," Came Bailey's voice from the entrance to the barn where he stood with his cousin. He then went into the tack room and slammed the door.

Will scratched his head. "Sorry guys… I can tell you… but it should wait until Bailey's not around to lose his temper."

"But…" Alma started.

"It's alright Alma, if anyone has the right to say anything about all of this, it's me… let's step outside of the barn so we can talk," Will led the girls outside and leaned on the fence. Zoe cleared off some of the snow and sat.

"What I don't get is why you have more right then Bailey," Chloe imputed.

"You'll understand when I explain the reason we don't feel like celebrating Christmas… so it really isn't that we don't…"

"There's a difference?" Zoe narrowed her eyes. "I've heard of not celebrating, but not feeling like it?"

"Mmm… ironically my life ended up changing the most… but I think Bailey has the most emotional scars from what happened."

"Something bad happened," Molly muttered.

"How could it… you two are always happy," Chloe smirked.

"Small hint… where do you think my parents are and why I live with my aunt and uncle?" Will asked.

"Ohh…" Zoe raised her hand. "Because they couldn't afford horses and sent you to live here… that's what we've always thought, huh sis."

"Yeah… but something bad happened… they didn't want you?" Chloe's voice was filled with concern and confusion.

"I wish some times… First, my parents bought me Jimber, second they had the place to board him…"

Sarah had been staring at the ground sadly, having figured out where this was going. "I'm sorry Will. I shouldn't have asked why there weren't any Christmas decorations up. I didn't realize that your parents died around this time of year."

"No… not possible," Zoe and Chloe looked at each other in shock, for they had never really thought of anyone having their parents dead.

"You guys never do see the situation for its possible worst," Molly sighed. "That's sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing. I didn't think about that because I know a lot of people in similar situations."

"What I don't get is… why does this effect Bailey more then you… typically isn't it the other way around?" Sarah asked.

"Typically… yes. But I have to say it effects Alma even more then my I think, but then the situation is a bit odd,"

"How so?" Molly asked as Alma glared at Will.

"Let's just say, I don't remember as much as they do… a coma caused by an automobile accident can do that to someone. I completely missed that Christmas and I didn't get to say bye to my little sis when she went to go live with other relatives… and I have yet to see her. So I guess that… not seeing her is what I am most bummed about,"

"That stinks," Molly sighed.

"I guess… one of the other things that stinks about all of it is the car that hit us when we were coming here for Christmas… the guy was driving drunk,"

"It was a truck Will," Alma muttered. "The reason it effects Bailey most is when Jimber arrived here, he went and rode out to meet them on one of the horses… this was before he had Aztec. The sound of the accident caused the horse to rear and Bailey to fall of. It took off on him and he was the first person to the accident. Not to mention Bailey almost didn't get back up on a horse."

"Come on… Bailey… Mr. Stubborn," Molly commented, to which Sarah, Chloe and Zoe nodded their heads.

"Yeah… he was being stubborn about it…" Will laughed.

"Are we going to ride or not?" Bailey was coming out of the barn with Aztec. The girls hurried to finish getting their horses ready for the arena. When they got out there, Will had disappeared. He didn't come back until after they had finished and he didn't look happy about something."

"What's the matter Will?"

"Just… I was wanting to do Christmas this year so I could see my little sister… my aunt and uncle said that I could try convincing Bailey, or they would find some way to send me…" Will sighed. "Except… either way Bailey's going to be furious with me."

"Will… how long has it been?" Sarah asked.

"Four years…" Alma muttered. "I was eight at the time."

"I could go try to talk to him…" Sarah commented.

"Well…" Will rubbed the back of his head. "Sarah… I'm not sure about that… I am not sure about talking to Bailey about this myself…"

"Let me try," Sarah led Scarlet into the barn.

"_I'm scared to go in…_" Chili muttered. "_I've seen Bailey lose his temper._"

"_At least he doesn't lose it out on a living thing other then to argue and steam_," Jimber commented. But none of the riders knew what the horses were thinking.

Sarah walked in and saw Bailey rubbing down Aztec and began to do the same with Scarlet, first taking her into her stall then removing her equipment. "So… has it just been you who hasn't wanted to celebrate Christmas… or has it been Will to?"

Bailey stopped and turned to Sarah. "He told you everything… didn't he? If you'd been around, you know that it was hard for my whole family… my parents included."

"Don't you want to see Will's little sister?" Sarah asked.

"Kimmy? Yeah… but… where is this going Sarah," Bailey leaned against Aztec for comfort.

"Will wants to celebrate Christmas this year so that he might possibly get to see his little sister. Your mom and dad said that you had to agree too, or they would send him to see her…"

"Why didn't Will tell me this?" Bailey asked.

"He was afraid you would blow up at him or not speak to him for awhile, no matter what choice he made… to try to convince you are just go," Sarah began to rub down Scarlet.

"He still should have tried…" Bailey muttered. "But… it has been four years… I didn't exactly celebrate that year… did Alma or Will tell you the other reason I really don't like celebrating Christmas… I think it is rather dumb now that I think of it, but when one was eight… it was a big deal at the time."

"No… they didn't mention any other reason,"

"Until the accident, I had been wanting my own horse… so I could ride like Will did… but when the accident happened, all I wanted was for Will to get better by Christmas so he could celebrate it with us. It obviously didn't happen."

"But you can celebrate the following Christmases with him,"

"I realize that now… anyways… thanks for talking to me about this… I still am not exactly over it, but… celebrating Christmas isn't a bad idea."

The next time Sarah went to Horseland, there were quite a few Christmas decorations about.

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Author's note – Before anyone asks me to write the prequel to this… it was already written… see the Horseland fanfic Accident. Hope you guys have a very Merry Christmas. If you read this, please review… I would like to know what you think… anon. reviews open.


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